straw heart beating
by sortofevilqueen
Summary: When a college-aged Henry comes home to Storybrooke for spring break, he somehow finds himself swept up in another magical adventure and winds up back in time. Henry uses his time in the past to bond with his former self, as well as a former version of his mother.


Notes: This is my first story in a very long time. I am not a writer by trade so I can't promise this is going to be any good, but more regal believer fic can't be a bad thing, right? Written for Chloie and all those awesome friends of mine, new and old, who love this mother-son dynamic the most. Thanks to Aimee for some quick editing help (though it was an earlier draft so any mistakes are very much still mine) and for her encouragement.

It's entirely fluff (as of right now) and might get a little screwball at times but I hope it's fun nonetheless. Technically Swan Queen but it'll mostly be background noise. The focus is on Regina and Henry. Title from the song Simple Machine by Guster.

* * *

The weather is crisp and cool, but not quite with the final remnants of winter in the air. Her heels click along the pavement, the only sound in the late evening air as she makes her way up the drive. Since the weather had been nice that morning she had walked to work (after her coffee run to Granny's) but now she sort of regrets the hike home after such a long day. Regina toes out of her pumps and softly shuts the front door with a click. The hall light is on, and a soft glow in the dining room indicates to her that someone is in the kitchen, the light spilling out from her favorite part of the house. Years ago these signs may have distressed her, but now her stomach flutters at what she hopes it means. As she glances down at her shoes she notices the pile of dirty clothes, mostly socks, next to an open gym bag by the hall closet. A soft smile breaks out on her lips, and the stress of her long day at the office begins to melt away. Henry is home.

She places her keys in the bowl on the entryway table, drops off her purse, and quickly puts her pumps away in the closet, sliding Henry's bag out of the way in the process. She'd address his cleanliness later, for now she is just happy he's home. She quietly pads on stockinged feet into the kitchen to find a half eaten bag of Lay's on the counter, along with a bowl of cantaloupe, a plate with a few bits of crust from what looks like had been a grilled cheese, and a can of diet coke. There also appears to be an unopened Snickers bar and a partially crumpled bag of Chex mix that was most likely empty. Except for the wheat chex, she knows. The fridge door is open and she can just make out Henry's lower back and behind sticking out as he rummages through her kitchen.

"Looking for something in particular, sweetheart?" she asks with a smile in her voice.

Henry jumps and the door to the fridge closes a little too quickly with a hard thud. A very surprised Henry makes eye contact with his mother, and Regina can tell she'd accidentally scared the daylights out of him. Her mouth twitches up even further into a smile.

"Shit Mom! You can't just sneak up on a guy like that!"

Regina laughs, the sound high and bright, as she steps forward to give her son a hug. She 's too happy to chastise him for his language. He blows out a breath, calming himself, before taking his petite mother in his long arms for a firm hug. He nearly swallows her whole when he hugs her these days, standing a proud 5'11" and with a big, solid frame. Regina knew he'd been going to the gym when he wasn't in class, and it shows. She smiles into his soft red and white baseball tee, drinking in the smell of her son and the lavender detergent she'd mailed him in his last care package. At least he was doing _some_ of his laundry, she thinks.

"I'm glad you're home," she murmurs softly as she finally begins to pull away from him. These days she's the one ending hugs first, despite how she wants to cling to him and never let go. That feeling would never go away, she knew. But she learned in his teenage years that hugs from mom weren't cool, at least not in public, and despite how supportive he had been of her in that time, she never wanted him to feel smothered. Now they have an easy relationship, and she knows in her heart that each time she pulls away from the contact it won't be the last.

"Seriously Mom, you scared me. Where are your shoes?" Henry smiles as he looks down at his mother, finally taking in the sight of her. Being home always instilled a sense of peace in him he never knew was missing until he came back.

"I take them off when I get home, you know that. Sorry I snuck up on you," she smiles, manuevering around him to open up the fridge again. "If anything I should be surprised by you," she calls over her shoulder as she grabs another diet coke out as well as a ziploc full of tortellini with pesto. She begins working her way around the kitchen to reheat the pasta from the night before, as Henry settles himself down again in front of his plate at the kitchen counter. His eyes follow her as she works, and she knows she can't keep the smile off her face. Having him home is always a warm feeling. "I didn't expect you until tomorrow afternoon. You could have called." The tone in her voice shows she's a bit peeved he hadn't told her. She doesn't like him travelling without her knowing about it, but she understands.

"I wanted to surprise _you_," he laughs, the sound deep and rich. "I should know better than to think I'd win that game."

"You often surprise me darling," Regina murmurs as the microwave beeps. "But I thought you had your exam tonight and your political psychology class in the morning."

"Finished up early, and Professor McClintock called off class tomorrow morning. He said it was his spring break gift to us, but we all knew he was cutting his losses. Like half of my class is going on a cruise or something and were gonna skip anyway," he says with a roll of his eyes. He pops a large pice of cantaloupe in his mouth as his mother moves pasta around on her plate, standing across from him at the counter.

"And you didn't want to go on this cruise?" she asks softly, wondering if Henry is sacrificing any of his fun to see her. Or if perhaps he wasn't really fitting in like she thought he was.

"Nah. It's just a booze cruise to Mexico. You know I'm not the party type. I just end up babysitting a bunch of drunk guys and it's no more fun to do it on a giant boat."

Regina laughs as she works on her late dinner. She's thankful that Henry is still the bright and quiet boy who enjoys a book more than mischief. He did have a knack for adventure, but at least that kind of adventure is one she's relatively accustomed to. She doesn't know how she'd feel if he had asked to go on a cruise to Mexico.

"Besides, you knew I wanted to come home and visit you and Ma. And everyone. It's not like I was gonna stay in Boston by myself for a week and a half," Henry shrugs.

"Not even if Melanie had asked you?" Regina smirks. Henry immediately blushes and nearly swallows a piece of cantaloupe whole.

"_Mom_," he swears.

"I'm sorry, that was mean," Regina chuckles, her eyes bright.

"She's busy working on her manuscript rewrite anyway. Whatever, I'm not having this conversation with you again," he huffs.

Regina knows she shouldn't push, but she isn't sure how to have a real conversation with Henry yet about falling love. After all, her track record is a bit of a mess and she feels wholly incapable of giving him advice. Not to mention the fact that she'd been a few years younger than him when she lost her first love and was subsequently married off to the king. And while Regina has love in her life now, overflows with it actually, she still isn't sure how to help her son navigate the waters of that first time, or any time really, you think you've found a home in another human being. Instead, she wound up teasing him incessantly. A strange role reversal from Emma, who often tries to help him find ways to ask her out or talk to her.

"All right, I won't bring up Melanie again. But I am glad you decided to come back from Storybrooke for the time being."

"Boston is great, but sometimes it's a bit much. Some days I just need the slow pace of Storybrooke. Even if it does mean I have to switch gears and talk about magic and 'the old days' and things like werewolf blood alcohol levels," Henry winks.

"If you wind up drinking with Ruby again, young man, you will warn me first and you _will _follow my rules," Regina says, serious at the drop of a hat. The incident over Christmas is still fresh in her mind and she is still occasionally short with Ruby for getting Henry drunk one chilly evening and agreeing to help him prank his other mother by putting the Sheriff cruiser on the other side of town. She still doesn't know how they did it, and she's almost impressed, but still furious.

"Mom you promised you'd also not bring _that _up again. You're pissed, it was stupid. I get it."

"I'm not_ pissed_, I was very concerned about your safety," Regina replies, but a grin begins to take form. "Emma, on the other hand, is probably still pissed."

Henry chuckles as he begins to clean up his mess from the counter. "Yeah, she's mostly mad that she doesn't know how we got it that far into the forest without the keys." He starts throwing away his trash and rinsing off his plate to place it gently in the dishwasher. Regina smiles as her son immediately falls into routine. "Runs in the family I guess," Henry smirks, waggling his eyebrows.

"If you two hot-wired that car, I don't want to know." As Regina cleans up the remnants of her quick dinner, washing down the last of her diet coke and adding her can beside Henry's for the recycling, she knows she'll sleep better than she has in months tonight. The easy camaraderie with her and Henry was unrivaled, and having him home always made _her _feel happy and safe. She'd be upset all over again when he went back to school, but for now, she's content.

"I'm sorry I didn't come home earlier, if I'd known I would have cooked you dinner. Not whatever this mess was," she says, gesturing at the now clean counter.

"It was a snap decision. I finished the exam early and decided to hop in the car and go. What kept you at the office? And where's Ma?"

"Boring things, as usual," Regina says with a casual wave of her hand. She comes around the counter to sit beside him as they talk in the low light of the kitchen. "Did you want ice cream?" she asks suddenly, remembering she'd picked some up for Emma on her last grocery run.

"Nah, I'm good," Henry replies with an easy smile. If he was gonna get that six pack before summer he really did have to cut out the sweets. Not that he'd tell either of his mothers that; they'd only tease him about it. "And Ma?"

"Graveyard shift. Your grandfather had something he needed to take care of apparently," Regina shrugs.

"So you just decided to work late too," Henry smirks. "I get it."

Regina feigns innocence but her son knows her all too well. "I had a whole policy to read over before you came to visit regarding the use of the harbor for docking boats in a zone far enough away from areas that potential mermaids or other sea creatures of Storybrooke may use as recreation. There's this whole thing going on right now about zoning laws in the ocean, it's a mess really."

"Sounds riveting."

"Mmm," Regina murmurs with a smile.

"So is Ma coming over later or will she actually sleep at her own place like an adult?"

"Henry!" Regina chides.

"That answers that I guess," he laughs.

"Your mom is at work until seven in the morning and we had plans to grab breakfast before she went home to crash in the hopes she'd be functioning by the time you got home." Regina raises her eyebrows as if to say 'so there' and Henry has to fight to keep the laughter in. His mothers were ridiculous.

"Great, you two can do things separate from one another and you're still not dating," Henry snorts.

"We're not!" Regina nearly shrieks. How many times would she have to explain her relationship with Emma?

"Whatever. I'm glad you guys are 'friends,'" Henry smirks, using air quotes to emphasize friends. If his mom could tease him about Melanie, he could continue to tease her about Emma.

"We are. And I don't know what you still think is going on here but we're just very close and we're each other's family now. Not to mention both of your mothers. It's only natural we would spend a lot of time together," Regina huffs.

"Fine, I'll drop it Mom," Henry sighs. He knew when he was pushing his mother too hard, and she'd start to close up and then he'd never get any information out of her about how she felt. "So if I get up I can grab a bite with you guys at the diner before she crashes?"

"I think she'd love that, you can definitely surprise her," Regina smiles, reaching over to swipe too long bangs out of Henry's eyes. "Your bed is already made up with fresh sheets if you're ready to sleep now."

"It's been a long day, and we're getting up early, so I probably should. I know you're tired," Henry smiles, standing up with his mother and placing an arm around her waist to walk her out of the kitchen. Regina's heart swells at the contact.

"I'm fine," Regina replies, stifling a yawn as they make their way towards the stairs.

"You always lie about this," Henry chuckles as his fingers squeeze her tighter. "Your eyelids start to droop so hard I worry you can't see. You're like a little toddler fighting sleep. Everyone can see it."

"Well young man, when you would fight sleep I'd often find you passed out face-first on the floor because you thought you could get through all of The Lion King. I used to worry when you zonked out like a cat, I didn't think you could breathe through the carpet."

"I have no recollection of this so it must not be true."

Regina laughs as they reach the top of the stairs and Henry untangles himself from her to head towards his room. "You never could get past 'Can You Feel the Love Tonight.' Once that song hit you were a goner. Then you'd be mad in the morning you didn't get to see Simba 'turn on the rain and bring all the grass back' to the Pridelands. It was hilarious."

"Yeah, yeah, make fun of me for that all you want, Grimhilde," Henry snorts, a twinkle in his eye. Busting out that name is always a low blow, but it still makes him laugh every time.

"That's not even her name!" Regina growls, always unable to back down from this stupid jibe.

"Goodnight Mom." Henry laughs, the sound reverberating in Regina's bones as she surges forward to hug him again.

"You're terrible, but I'm glad you're home. Goodnight my sweet prince."

"Get me up in time?" Henry asks, stifling his own yawn as he yanks his old bedroom door open.

"I will," Regina smiles as he disappears into his room. The house is quiet, but this quiet is a different kind. This kind of quiet home is one she loves most. It's good to have Henry back for spring break. It's good to have Henry home at any time, Regina thinks, as she makes her way into the master bedroom for her own bed. Yes, she would sleep very well tonight.


End file.
